Flight Safety Information
August 10, 2011 - No. 165
In This Issue
Australia lifts six-week ban on Tiger Airways
Injuries force jet to land
Aircraft set to reach 20 times the speed of sound in test flight
NASA Selects Seven Firms to Provide Near-Space Flight Services
Rescuers locate crash site of missing An-12
Gun found in Playmate's carryon bag
Singapore Airlines Orders 8 Boeing 777-300ERs For US$2.3 Bln
Cathay orders first 777-200Fs, adds four 777-300ERs
Australia lifts six-week ban on Tiger Airways
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian aviation authorities on Wednesday lifted a six-week flying ban
on the local unit of Tiger Airways after the budget carrier agreed to new conditions
including extra training for pilots.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said the airline, a subsidiary of the Singapore-
based carrier, could take to the air again whenever it wanted.
"Tiger can resume operations at a date and time of their choosing," CASA's director of
aviation safety John McCormick said.
The regulator said Tiger had demonstrated it could comply with the new conditions on its
air operator's certificate and meet the necessary safety requirements.
The conditions relate to pilot training and proficiency, pilot rostering and fatigue
management, the revision of operational manuals and amendments to the airline's
safety management system.
They include additional simulator and ground training for pilots.
"We had concerns with the training Tiger was giving their pilots," McCormick told
reporters.
CASA grounded the airline from July 2 after flights twice approached airports in
Melbourne too low, and following warnings about pilot proficiency, training and checking,
and fatigue management.
A preliminary investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into the first low-
flying incident said the error was due to an incorrect lowest descent altitude in the
commercial navigational database.
It also said the flight crew did not initially notice that the altitude displayed in front of
them was 500 feet below what they had been cleared to fly.
In the second incident, a Tiger plane descended some 400 feet below the minimum safe
altitude, although a preliminary report into that incident has not been finalised.
In both cases the aircraft landed safely and no-one was injured.
The carrier has repeatedly vowed to fly again and on its website says its domestic
Australia flights are suspended until August 11.
The ban raised fears about Tiger's future but Singapore Airlines, which has a 32.9
percent equity stake in Tiger Airways Holdings, has stated it has no plans to reduce its
holdings.
Tiger's international services to and from Australia were not affected
Back to Top
Injuries force jet to land
American Airlines flight encountered turbulence
A passenger jet flying from Miami to Washington had to land in Charleston on Tuesday
after five people were injured when the plane went through turbulence, authorities said.
American Airlines Flight 734 encountered severe turbulence near the Florida-Georgia
border, said Dori Alvarez, an American Airlines spokeswoman. The Boeing 737 landed in
Charleston about 4:30 p.m.
Charleston County EMS took two crew members and three passengers to hospitals for
treatment, Alvarez said. The flight had 152 passengers and a crew of six.
Alvarez did not have details about the injuries.
American Airlines flew another plane, and a full crew, to Charleston to take the
passengers on to Washington, said Becky Beaman, a spokeswoman for the airport.
The replacement was scheduled to take off about 7:15 p.m., but was delayed for nearly
two hours by a thunderstorm in Charleston, Alvarez said.
The plane took off at 9:04 p.m. and arrived in Washington just after 10 p.m.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/aug/10/injuries-force-jet-to-land/
Back to Top
Aircraft set to reach 20 times the speed of sound in test flight
An experimental, arrowhead-shaped aircraft that could reach blistering speeds of 13,000
mph above the Pacific Ocean is set to blast off Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force
Base, northwest of Santa Barbara.
The flight is slated to test new technology that would provide the Pentagon a lightning-
fast vehicle, capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an
hour.
The unmanned aircraft, dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, is scheduled to
be launched at 7 a.m. PDT into the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere aboard an
eight-story Minotaur IV rocket, made by Orbital Sciences Corp.
The aircraft will then separate, screech back toward Earth, level out and glide above the
Pacific at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20.
To give you an idea of how fast that is: an aircraft at that speed would zip from Los
Angeles to New York in less than 12 minutes.
The aircraft is expected to splash down about half an hour later and sink near Kwajalein
Atoll, about 4,000 miles from Vandenberg.
The launch Wednesday will be the second flight of the Falcon. The first flight, which took
place in April 2010, ended prematurely with only 9 minutes of flight time.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is funding the program,
said the first flight was "used to improve aerodynamic models and to optimize the
vehicle design and trajectory for flight two."
Sustaining hypersonic flight, or speeds beyond Mach 5, has been extremely difficult for
aeronautical engineers to perfect over the years.
In June, the U.S. Air Force had to prematurely end a test flight of its experimental X-51
WaveRider plane when a lapse in airflow to the jet engine caused a shutdown.
The second flight of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, which is built by
Lockheed Martin Corp., is set to be its last -- unless the government provides more
funding. And unlike many rocket launches these days, it's not set to be webcast.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/vandenberg-launch-hypersonic-
technology-vehicle-falcon.html
Back to Top
NASA Selects Seven Firms to Provide Near-Space Flight Services
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected seven
companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable
platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space.
As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an
indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a
combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space
companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a
variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.
"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent,
low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and
technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a
broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and
capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."
The selected companies are:
·Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
·Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
·Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
·Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
·Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
·Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
·XCOR, Mojave, Calif.
NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting
technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these
indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight
opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.
The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center
in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:
http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/oct
SOURCE NASA
Back to Top
Rescuers locate crash site of missing An-12
Russian search teams have located the wreckage of the missing Avis-Amur Antonov An-
12 which disappeared while attempting to return to Magadan after an engine fire.
The Interstate Aviation Committee has identified the airframe involved as bearing
registration RA-11125.
It said investigators are travelling to the accident site.
Rescuers had recruited two Mil Mi-8s, an Antonov An-26 and even a Beriev Be-200
amphibious aircraft to aid the search after difficulties in finding the missing transport.
There were 11 occupants on board the An-12 which was operating to Chukotka's
Keperveym airport on 9 August, and vanished in the area of Omsukchan, some 300km
north-east of Magadan.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Back to Top
Gun found in Playmate's carryon bag
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A 26-year-old Playboy Playmate was arrested at
Orlando International Airport in Florida after she tried to board a plane with a revolver,
police said.
The gun was discovered in Shanna Marie McLaughlin's duffle bag when it went through
an X-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint, the Orlando Sentinel reported
Wednesday.
McLaughlin told authorities the .45-caliber Colt revolver, loaded with six hollow-point
bullets, belonged to her boyfriend and she didn't know it was in her bag, a police report
indicated.
Authorities confiscated the gun and jailed her on a charge of carrying a firearm in a place
prohibited by law.
Police said Tuesday she had been released.
McLaughlin made national news last year when she participated in a controversial photo
shoot at her alma mater, the University of Central Florida.
She was Playboy's Miss July 2010.
Back to Top
Singapore Airlines Orders 8 Boeing 777-300ERs For US$2.3 Bln
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore Airlines Ltd. (C6L.SG) said Wednesday it is ordering
eight more Boeing Co. (BA) 777-300ER aircraft worth US$2.3 billion at list prices, as part
of its growth and aircraft replacement plans.
The carrier will receive the new aircraft starting in the 2013-2014 financial year, and will
operate them on medium- and long-haul routes, it said in a statement.
The new aircraft, to be powered by General Electric Co.'s (GE) GE90 engines, will join
Singapore Airlines' existing fleet of 19 Boeing 777-300ERs, it added.
"These aircraft are being ordered for SIA's growth purposes as well as for replacement,
in line with our longstanding policy of operating a young and modern fleet," a company
spokeswoman said.
The average age of Singapore Airlines' fleet--comprising 106 aircraft currently--is six
years and four months, as of July.
Singapore Airlines last month posted a sharper-than-expected 82% decline in first-
quarter net profit after soaring crude-oil prices pushed up its fuel bill, and warned of a
difficult period ahead.
In May, the carrier said it will start a no-frills low-fare subsidiary next year that will
operate flights on medium- and long-haul routes, initially using Boeing 777-200 aircraft
from the parent.
Back to Top
Cathay orders first 777-200Fs, adds four 777-300ERs
Cathay Pacific has ordered four Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft and eight Boeing
777-200 freighters as part of the airline's ongoing fleet renewal plan.
The 12 aircraft, which will have a list price of Hong Kong dollar (HK$) 25.6 billion ($3.28
billion), are expected to be delivered between 2013 and 2016.
All the aircraft will be powered by General Electric GE90 engines.
"The 777-300ER is a superb aircraft that has already given a significant boost to our
long-haul passenger operations, while the 777-200F will improve our freighter operations
by delivering improved payload range capability at competitive operating costs,"
Cathay's CEO, John Slosar, said in a statement.
Cathay currently operates 22 777-300ERs on its long-haul routes.
With this order, the airline will have 28 of the type on its order books for delivery up to
2015.
The aircraft will replace 21 Boeing 747-400s and 13 Airbus A340-300s that the carrier is
planning to retire by 2020.
The Oneworld alliance member's first 777-200Fs will replace some of the 11 747-
400BCFs in its cargo arm's fleet.
The 777-200Fs offer 15% fuel savings per payload on the 747-400F and 24% on the
747-400BCF, Cathay said.
Cathay has 21 widebodies in its freighter fleet. Two of its 747-400BCFs will be sold to its
cargo joint venture with Air China, while one or two more will be dry-leased to its all-
cargo subsidiary Air Hong Kong.
Cathay will have 35 freighters by 2016, the airline said.
With this order, Cathay will have 97 aircraft on order for delivery up to 2019. These
include 19 Airbus A330s, 32 Airbus A350-900s, and 10 747-8Fs.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC